Oliver Porter at the LCA Meeting, April 18th, 2013

Oliver Porter

The Lakeside City Alliance (LCA) held a community meeting April 18th at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on Clairmont Road, where the featured speaker was Oliver Porter, a Sandy Springs resident and expert on the formation of new cities, who has been a critical consultant to Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and other new cities at their early formation.  He is the author of the book Creating the New City of Sandy Springs:  The 21st Century Paradigm. The website for his firm, PPP Associates, LLC, can be found here.  PPP stands for Public Private Partnership.

The meeting attracted perhaps 120 people, 40% of whom were of retirement edge.  The only elected representatives present were Rep. Michele Henson (D), Stone Mountain and Rep. Tom Taylor (R), Dunwoody.  The initial presentation was made by Mary Kay Woodworth and Kevin Levitas, which is documented in a Powerpoint presentation that can be found here.  Mr. Porter's presentation was followed by a Q&A session by the LCA Board, with some answers provided by Mr. Porter and Rep. Taylor.


Perhaps the only newsworthy tidbit that came from the LCA presentation is that the LCA is NOT an advocacy group, as its only purpose is to investigate the issues involving creating the City of Lakeside, and to provide funding for the Carl Vinson Institute feasibility study.  Should the study be positive, the LCA would be disbanded and a new group would be organized that would work out the details of the new City, be its advocate with the General Assembly, and campaign for voter approval.

Another important component of the message the LCA delivered was with regard to the impact the new cities will have on our local schools.  As has been repeated ad infinitum, there is absolutely no cause and effect relationship between the new cities and the school system.  Nothing will change.  Attendance zones will not change, regardless of where new city lines cross.  Those whose only interest in the new cities is due to concerns over the schools, and the possibility of forming city based school systems, will need to look elsewhere for relief.  The new cities will have no effect on the schools.

Oliver Porter's presentation was very informative and very positive about the prospects of having a new city. He described his experience and knowledge with new city formation, and explained many of the tax and management issues that come into play.  All of the new cities have been received with great enthusiasm and the promises made in the creation process have largely been kept.

At the request of thousands, I am making available an audio recording of Oliver Porter's presentation at the LCA meeting.  The audio is less than 30 minutes long and is quite compelling listening, sure to keep you on the edge of your seat until the exciting conclusion.  Mr. Porter was introduced by Susan L. Meyers, an LCA Board member.  Enjoy.

Oliver Porter's Presentation